Farmington to open IB program to 50 non-FPS students

The International Baccalaureate Program, as well as kindergarten and first grade in Farmington Public Schools will be open to a limited number of students from other communities for the 2016-17 school year.

The Board of Education on Tuesday voted 6-0 to accept up to 50 students for the IB program and up to 20 outside students total for kindergarten and first grade. Board treasurer Terry Johnson wasn’t present for the vote, due to illness.

This will be the first time Farmington’s IB program allows students from other district, while opening kindergarten and first grade to 20 students is typical for FPS. Currently, the district has 123 students who attend under School of Choice.

Accepting residents from other communities is part of the State School Act, and applies to students in the same county or Intermediate School District. Their funding dollars accompany them.

“Historically, the philosophical approach to this was that we want to vie opportunity to a fairly small number of students and catch them at the earliest grades so we can get them up to speed very quickly as to what the needs are and help them progress,” said Howard Wallach, Board of Education president.

For those interested in the IB program, they must begin in ninth grade and be expected to maintain “good standing” or must return to their home school. The IB program is held at Harrison High School, and will remain there until the school closes at the end of the 2018-19 school year. FPS students who want to take IB courses but don’t want an IB certificate or diploma will still be allowed to do so.

Adding 50 students will not require additional space, noted Superintendent George Heitsch, bur rather would “fill up some excess capacity currently at the high school level.”

Under School of Choice, transportation is not provided by the district.